Reward out for NHL banana-tosser

NHL referee Don VanMassenhoven carries a banana thrown at Philadelphia Flyers player Wayne Simmonds during their preseason game against the Detroit Red Wings at the John Labatt Centre in London on Thursday. The incident is being touted by some as a racist action towards the black forward. (CRAIG GLOVER/QMI AGENCY)

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LONDON, Ont. - The Twitter universe was still buzzing with reaction over the weekend to last week's banana-throwing at John Labatt Centre.

At least two Twitter clients are offering rewards to anyone who can provide the identity of the person who tossed a banana at a black player during a shootout in an NHL pre-season game between the Philadelphia Flyers and Detroit Red Wings last Thursday night.

One London resident, Tracey Nola, was so disturbed she started collecting donations to create a reward for anyone who can provide the identity of the culprit. She's raised $1,000 and believes more money will follow.

"I know it's going to keep coming," Nola said. "London, Ontario, is a fantastic city and we had a lot of people that came forward and anonymously wanted to donate money to find this person."

She put the call out for donations on Twitter and was happy to see the number of people wanting to help out in order to find the culprit and bring him or her to justice.

Nola said she was embarrassed something like this happened in London, and believes the issue shouldn't be swept under the rug.

"If we ignore this, then it's going to be accepted," she said. "(I want to show) this person, as well as people of all races and ethnicities, that this is not tolerated in London, that it's not OK, and it's not accepted. I don't think an apology from the mayor is enough."

Mayor Joe Fontana released a letter of apology last Friday to black Flyer forward Wayne Simmonds, who was skating toward the Detroit net during a shootout when someone threw a banana at him from the upper deck.

Scott Norton, an NHL player agent from Chicago and Laguna Beach, Calif., has also offered up a reward of $500 from his own pocket to catch the culprit, whom he labelled "#RacistPig."

"I thought if I can get the ball rolling and seek out assistance from other people, then we can catch this individual and make an example," Norton said.

He said he's had a few leads, but he's being careful to judge the information he gets.

He said he's fairly confident someone will come forward eventually and when he gets any concrete information, he'll pass it on to London police.

"Very rarely do people like (the culprit) keep it quiet. So whether they're bragging to someone or let it slip on a drunk night, someone else has to know and the question is what will it take for someone to step forward?"

Norton said he hopes if the individual is caught charges will be laid. It also would be appropriate if the individual was banned from all professional hockey events, he said.

"If and when we do catch him then it's up to people higher up than me to figure out why it was done and make sure it's never done again."

Brian Ohl, general manager of the John Labatt Centre (JLC), also asked the public for help identifying the perpetrator.

He posted on the JLC Facebook page, stating: "We will not tolerate this type of conduct at the John Labatt Centre and if we are successful in catching the culprit, we will prosecute the individual to the fullest extent of the law."